I said it one way today and was corrected by 2 or 3 others. I wonder if it is regional differences.

I pronounce it like "comm-youn-ull" same as I pronounce community, commune, and communion I've lived all over the US, and I can't for the life of me think of any other ways to pronounce it.

There are two ways of pronouncing it in the UK and I've no idea which is correct or if both are; it's all in the emphasis. Either COMM-un-al or com-UNE-al. A bit like the 'CONtroversy/conTROVersy' debate.

Okay, how do you say that it is 7:15 when asked the time? I will say quarter after 7. I didn't even think anything of it until a friend teased me and said she just stated it as 7:15.

I never say "quarter" when speaking about time. 7:15 is seven fifteen. 45 minutes is forty five minutes not three quarters of a hour, etc. For that matter 7:30 to me is seven thirty not "half past". And don't even get me started on "of" when used with time! I have no idea if "ten of seven" means 6:50 or 7:10 because I don't understand the grammatic of the usage of "of" in the phrase!

I say quarter past or quarter to. Or half past. I never say "quarter of". That would actually confuse me. I also don't say "after" but at least that makes sense.

Thank you, although I'm sure I'll forget again, as like I said I don't understand how that grammar works at all.

I think I just vehemently dislike requiring a person to do math when telling them a time

"Quarter past" means they have take a moment and mentally figure out 25% of 60, saying "ten of" means they have to figure out what "of" means and then calculate (apparently) seven minus ten minutes. To me time is too important a thing (just think of all the threads about people being late, or early or taking too long, or shorting time, etc) to be futzing around with not being perfectly without a doubt clear.

I don't do math when told time. I automatically know, regarding time, that quarter = 15, not quarter = 25% of 60.

But just because you know it, doesn't mean the person you are saying it to thinks that way. If saying "quarter" isn't the norm for them (and I'm wondering with digital clocks becoming so much more standard then analogs if this is the case for many people) then they have to take that extra second to think "quarter, in relation to time, equals 15."

I admit for me, by now its not even a full second of thought, but its definitely a mental conversion for me.

I don't think of it as requiring maths to calculate because I just know. I wouldn't use any other time-related fractions.

And while I appreciate that in different regions people state the time differently, it honestly would never occur to me that someone would need to do a mental calculation to understand me.

Or, frankly, that there are people who can't tell analog time. Surely they still teach that in school?

I learned analog time, and even have a few analog clocks in my life. I just never grew up with, or currently associate with, anyone who used "quarter" or "half" as verbiage when talking about time. Its like when someone says "freeway" to me (around here its the "highway"). Its not even a full second, but it is a moment in my head where I need to translate what they they mean. Everyone I know -socially, academically, professionally, etc tends to verbalize time in numbers seven fifteen, seven forty five, etc.

I had to disable the clock on my computer screen at my library because so many of the teens would lean over my desk to read the time (signing in to use the computers) instead of looking at the analog wall clock. I tried my best to teach them how to read it, but the ones with cell phones just started checking the time on their phones instead. (The ones without would just yell at full volume across the library to ask their friends the time . . . Grrrr!)

I had to disable the clock on my computer screen at my library because so many of the teens would lean over my desk to read the time (signing in to use the computers) instead of looking at the analog wall clock. I tried my best to teach them how to read it, but the ones with cell phones just started checking the time on their phones instead. (The ones without would just yell at full volume across the library to ask their friends the time . . . Grrrr!)

I just had someone cal in some information and she repeatedly pronounced the number 2 as "ter". Is that an accent anyone recognizes?

I've heard 2 pronounced "ter" in some really rural parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and some parts of Northern Florida. Occasionally, I'll meet someone from Ohio that says it that way as well.

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I don't think of it as requiring maths to calculate because I just know. I wouldn't use any other time-related fractions.

And while I appreciate that in different regions people state the time differently, it honestly would never occur to me that someone would need to do a mental calculation to understand me.

Or, frankly, that there are people who can't tell analog time. Surely they still teach that in school?

Raising my hand as one 'requiring maths'. I remember my mom getting very frustrated with me when trying to teach me how to tell time when I was little, whereas my brother taught himself.

I always wear a watch and got sick of 'doing math' to figure out the time, so when I took up running, I invested in a nice digital sport watch and haven't looked back. I wear it with everything, even my dressy clothes because I'm too lazy to switch out accessories that way. Maybe I'll invest in a pretty, bracelet-type digital (if such a thing exists).

We have analogs and digital clocks all over the house and I can tell time on the analogs, but I've come to accept that I'll always be slower at deducing the time on those.

I said it one way today and was corrected by 2 or 3 others. I wonder if it is regional differences.

I pronounce it like "comm-youn-ull" same as I pronounce community, commune, and communion I've lived all over the US, and I can't for the life of me think of any other ways to pronounce it.

There are two ways of pronouncing it in the UK and I've no idea which is correct or if both are; it's all in the emphasis. Either COMM-un-al or com-UNE-al. A bit like the 'CONtroversy/conTROVersy' debate.

I said the first, they insisted the latter. I told them it was regional and they dropped it. What I didn't like, though, was their presumption to correct me.

My older two boys, when learning to tell time in early elementary, were given worksheets with pictures of analog clocks on them, so I assume it's still being taught that way.

I remember shortly after moving back east after living in S. California, someone told me "You sound Californian". Which surprised me as I didn't really notice any significant accent from the few native Californians I knew.

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